Morning Muse with Dave Arnold

If Silence is Golden, then Speech is Platinum

“Thanks a lot,” the man behind the postal counter intentionally said to the customer. The clerk had seen his former high school English teacher in line, and was hoping she would overhear him.

When it was her turn, she said hello to the clerk, whom she had taught some twenty years previously. He asked, “Did you notice what I just said to that customer?”

Realizing she had missed something, he explained, “Remember me? I was a student of yours, and you always told us about the term a lot. You said a lot was a piece of land, not a phrase to use instead of much.”

Remarkable, thought the retired English teacher, something I said over twenty years ago has stuck with him all these years. Thus, the power of speech!

This means, don’t let your words be flat and tasteless. In New Testament times, salt was used both as a preservative, and to create thirst in animals. Throughout history, salt blocks were found on farms, so the animals would lick the salt and then consume the proper amount of water.

Salt is a powerful ingredient, and Paul is saying, “Let there be something about your speech that is beneficial to others.”

“If silence is golden, then speech is platinum. It spreads wisdom, dispels ignorance, ventilates grievances, stimulates curiosity, lightens the spirits, and lessens the fundamental loneliness of the soul” (Jan Struther).